A Heart's Tempo
by TrailBlazer912
Summary: Ally Crowe thought she was prepared to live in LA by herself; dancing, working and trying to get along. But she wasn't prepared for her Aunt's sudden accident that drew her back to La Push. She certainly wasn't prepared for Jacob Black. She'd just have to roll with it - like dancing. Dancing to her Heart's Tempo. Jacob/OC
1. Critical

Chapter 1: Critical

**Well this is unexpected.**

**I have like 5 other stories that I KNOW I need to work on, but this just kind of...happened. And don't worry, ****_Sleeping in a Fox Trap_**** WILL be updated soon! I've begun the next chapter but I've been swamped this summer.**

**Okay, FIRSTLY: I do not like Twilight. Like at all. Couldn't even get through the first book without falling asleep or tossing it across the room. HOWEVER, I've done my research and am fascinated with the idea of imprinting, wolves and the wolf pack. **

**(I've learned all of my knowledge through other stories or Wikipedia and no I don't own Twilight or Jacob Black, but I DO own Ally, Aunt Alicia and Jason.)**

**Enjoy!**

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"Alright class, good job today!" Jason's voice rang out over Flo Rida's "Whistle" that gradually faded out beneath the echo of claps and hollers by the dancers.

"For those of you whom I haven't killed with either my devilish good looks or dancing skills, be back here at five sharp tomorrow evening!" Jason chuckled as the class groaned before walking off of the dance floor.

The young man's gray eyes swept over the floor before they landed on his favorite instructor. A grin broke his features and he jogged over to the young woman packing her bag. Her long, glossy raven black hair was hiked up into a high bun and her sun tanned skin that nearly all Los Angeles residence had shone with sweat.

"Nice job today, Alicia." Jason said loudly, causing the woman to jump up and whirl around, shock in her jade green eyes. She quickly relaxed and chuckled.

"Jay, please, stop scaring me. It was funny the first three times. Now you're just trying to give me a heart attack. And I thought I told you to call me _Ally_." she said sternly, placing on hand on her hip, adjusting her messenger bag on her shoulder with the other hand.

Jason chuckled and threw an arm over her shoulder, casually strolling with her towards the door.

"I'm just coming to see if you're still up for my little proposition..." Jay trailed off.

Ally sighed and let her hair down, running a hand through it.

"Jay, you know I'm not ready to tour with the company yet. I told you that the last five times you asked me this week." Ally shot him a pointed look.

Jason sighed in defeat. Ally was one of his best dancers at the downtown Los Angeles _Step Out!_ Dance company. She could master anything; hip hop, jazz, even ballet (but after her mother's death she avoided ballet like the plague) the list went on. Her personal favorite, as he knew, was hip hop. He could never see why she didn't want to tour Pro with him during the summer months across the country.

"Fine, fine. Hey isn't your Aunt supposed to call you about now?" And with that, Jason had completely moved on. She knew he would keep asking her until he got tired of it or she submitted. Yeah right.

Her Aunt Alicia, the woman whom she was named for, was her last living relative in her immediate family. She was positive that she had other relatives somewhere in the world, but were never in touch with them. She and her Aunt were very close, and even though she lived all the way in Washington on a small Native American Reservation, she always called her at seven o' clock sharp when she got out of dance class.

"I'm expecting a call any minute." Ally smiled but winced as they stepped out into the sunlight. She and Jason lived a block away from each other, both in tiny, cramped apartments that had a great view of the city.

"She's still living with the Indians?" Jason chuckled at his little joke but stopped when he saw Ally shoot him a glare.

"Must I remind you that I am three fourths Native American?" Ally snapped, huffing. She was very proud of her heritage and even though she hadn't stepped foot on on the reservation since she was six, Ally had a lot of pride in who she was.

Her mother was Native American, coming from the Quileute tribe. Her father was from Texas and they had met when he was traveling to see family in Canada. They fell in love, got married and had Ally. The family then moved to Los Angeles where Ally's father, Michael, owned an auto-repair shop and her mother, Thalia, taught dance lessons at the local studio.

All was well and happy, with her dear Aunt Alicia, her mother's sister, visiting every few weeks to see her god daughter and niece.

Then things took a turn for the worse when her parents were hit by a drunk driver when she was seventeen.

Thinking about it made Ally wince. She had finished out her last year of high school then found she was a no-go for collage because she had spent nearly all of her tuition money on funeral costs and debt paying. Luckily, she turned eighteen a few months after so she wasn't put in foster care but was in desperate need of a steady income.

Working about five jobs including instructing at _Step Out!_, Ally had a very full schedule. Touring with the company would have been a lot of fun, but she had bills to pay and a landlord whom nearly had a fit if she was an hour late on payment.

A sudden tri-tone from Ally's phone snapped her out of her thoughts and she pulled out her phone, her brow furrowing as she looked at the unknown number.

"Is that your aunt?" Jason asked. Ally shrugged.

"Its not her usual number, but she doesn't have a cellphone and could possibly be at a friend's house or something. Might as well take it; it is her area code." Ally said before tapping the ACCEPT CALL option.

"Hello?"

"Alicia Crowe?" an unfamiliar male voice said.

"Uh...yes. That's me. But you might be asking for my aunt, she's also Alicia-"

"No, you are definitely the Alicia Crowe I was looking for. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Charlie Swan, the Chief of Police in Forks, Washington. I also respond to calls in La Push." the male voice confirmed.

"Well, that's great and all but why are you calling me?" Ally asked, hoping that wasn't too rude.

Charlie sighed. "Well you see, its about your Aunt."

Ally's heart stammered in her chest and she stepped out of Jason's arm.

"Has something happened?" Ally's voice rose an octave with her panic.

"There's been an accident, yes. Your aunt is currently in critical condition at Forks General hospital. Since you are her only next of kin I thought it best to notify you-"

"I'll be on the next flight out to Seattle. Can someone be there to drive me down? I haven't been to Forks or La Push in years." Ally's voice wavered and she felt heat collecting in her eyes. Not her Aunt Alicia.

"Of course. I'll have someone from La Push drive up to Seattle. They'll have a sign so you should be able to recognize them."

Ally and Charlie talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. She turned back to Jason, feeling his eyes burning holes in the back of her head.

"What's going on?" Jason wasted no time with his question. Ally took a breath and suddenly burst into tears.

"I-It's my Aunt. Sh-She's hurt and I need t-to get to S-Seattle and- oh god I have to pack. I don't know how long I'll be there and-" Jason put a hand on Ally's shoulder and looked her in the eye.

"Ally _breathe_." he soothed. Ally sucked in a large breath and exhaled through her nose, trying desperately to stop the flow of tears that cascaded down her cheeks.

"I'll pay for the ticket and help you pack. Take as much time as you need off - full pay." Jason said briskly and led her up the stairs of her apartment. She hadn't even realized they had reached her complex.

"No, Jay. You can't-"

"I _can_ and I _will_. You need to go and see your aunt. I'll make calls to all of your other crazy ass jobs and make sure they know its a family emergency." Jason said firmly before pulling out Ally's only suitcase she owned from under her bed and began pulling out her clothes, setting them in the suitcase.

They packed in silence then, Ally grimacing as she noticed that her entire closet could fit in her moderately-sized suitcase. Even her dance shoes and thick winter coat which she knew she needed since it felt like winter in La Push even in the late summer.

Once practically her entire closet had been packed up, Ally told Jason she needed a shower since she didn't want to get on a plane smelling like sweat and whatever the hell they cleaned the floors with.

She grabbed a clean pair of sweats, new underwear and a bra along with a new sweatshirt and set them on the sink as she stripped down and stepped into the scalding hot shower.

The shower gave her time to think.

What had happened to her Aunt? Was Forks General a good enough hospital to trust her Aunt in? What if she never woke up from her coma? What if she was left alone for the second time, with no one to guide and be there for her in her life? She had Jason and a few other close friends, but they couldn't care for her and give her undying love like her Aunt did. Sure, Jason was great and one of her closer friends but she couldn't ask that much of him.

All too soon her crappy water heater ran out and the water turned ice cold. She turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her body before pulling her hair up, deciding against drying it.

Ally dressed quickly and exited the bathroom with all of her toiletries.

Jay closed her computer and unplugged it, stuffing it into her dance bag which he had emptied out.

"Okay, so I booked you a flight and yes, I _paid_ for it. Don't give me that look, Alicia. _Anyway_, I put your sweaty dance clothes in a plastic bag in your luggage because you need your dance bag and decided to pack up an extra change of clothes along with your wallet and other crap you'll need." Jason rambled, stuffing her laptop charger into her dance bag along with her cell charger, then taking her toiletries in their 311 bag in as well.

Jason may have been a twenty year old guy, but he was sure as hell efficient and knew exactly what she needed so she decided not to argue and let him do his thing.

"Your flight is at eight thirty and I'm driving you there because we all know you don't have a car and I don't trust public transportation."

All Ally could do was nod numbly as Jason went on, barely listening to him.

It was as if she was trapped in a strange dream. Ally could hear, see and feel everything that was going on around her but it was like her body and mind were separated. Her body moved but her mind lingered. Time sped up but slowed down and the world seemed to be too happy, too cheerful for her liking at the moment.

Obnoxious teenage girls with bleach-blonde hair and shorts barely long enough to cover their ass laughed in high, shrill voices as they passed them on the street. She wanted to slap them; her beloved Aunt was in critical condition and struggling to live - nobody should be _allowed_ to laugh. The world should have been burning instead of the clear blue sky and warm suns shining down on the city of Los Angeles.

They reached Jay's car within five blocks and arrived at LAX in a matter of minutes.

It was seven o' five by the time Ally had been checked in and had to say her goodbyes to Jason.

She struggled with tears, attempting a smile that probably came out in more of a grimace.

"Take care of yourself up there, Ally." Jason sighed as they pulled away from their hug.

"I always do." she affirmed, smiling sadly.

Jason ran a hand through his light hair and returned her dreary smile with one of his own.

"Call me when you land and tell me how you're aunt's doing, okay?"

Ally nodded and with one last lingering hug and a glance over her shoulder - she disappeared into the huge airport.

_Hold on, Auntie. I'm on my way._

**Review please!**


	2. An Accident

Chapter 2: An Accident

**Hey everybody! Yes, so an update within a week! UNHEARD OF. At least, well...don't expect this a lot. I just have some free time today and inspiration.**

**Thank you to all of my loverly new followers and favorites, you guys are awesome!**

**So, Jacob's Third Person view today! Also, for the sake of the story (I'm nooot sure if this is CORRECT or not, but hey, I didn't read the books! Wikipedia can only give me so much!) Jacob is now eighteen, almost nineteen, and its pretty much the middle of Eclipse. Also, its July now.**

**Onward we go!**

* * *

Jacob never thought himself much of a pessimistic person. As a kid he was always smiling, always laughing and playing with others. His infectious smile brought joy to his father and sisters, even though he alone was not enough to persuade them to stay in La Push.

He had plenty of friends, and was well liked around the rez, even in Forks as well. When Jacob had turned fifteen, though, things began changing. The first part of this change was when he met Isabella Swan.

She was just as beautiful as her name suggested; a beautiful, perfect, delicate Swan, if a bit clumsy. He had made an utter fool of himself during their first meeting, but slowly, and surely, she warmed up to him. She started _talking_ to him. Before he knew it was really happening, he was completely falling for Bella.

Then of course, he shifted for the first time and low and behold things started taking a turn for the worse.

The _leech_ had to show up. The blood thirsty monster that was going to kill the woman he loved because she was confused and mixed up. At least, he had thought she was.

It was becoming increasingly more clear as the weeks and months went by that perhaps Bella really did _love_ the parasite. Jacob acknowledged this but that didn't mean that he had to _like_ it.

So Jake stopped smiling. He stopped laughing. He stopped rough housing with his brothers. He stopped being _Jacob_, much to his father's concern. He still talked and participated with his Pack duties, but he did it was a bitterness that could only rival Leah's. And that was saying something.

So what was Jacob Ephraim Black doing now? Laying in bed on one of his only days off, tossing a football up in the air and catching it mindlessly. His thoughts were anywhere but his room though. He wondered what Bella was doing. Was she thinking about him? Probably not.

Just as Jacob was about to throw the football up against the ceiling once more, he heard his father's heartbeat pick up and his frantic cry: "Jacob!"

Jacob was out of bed and in the kitchen before his father's voice had died in the air.

"Dad, what's going on!?" Jake asked, his own panic filling the room. He first checked that his father wasn't injured. Seeing his father, holding the phone in his shaking grip, Jacob's thoughts turned even more negative. Was it Bella? Had the leech turned her?! Had Charlie called?!

"It's Alicia." His father said gravely, wheeling himself over to the coatrack.

Jacob deflated instantly, relief washing over him for a brief moment before he suddenly felt like slapping himself.

Alicia Crowe was a kind, older woman, just a bit older than Billy. She lived on the outskirts of La Push and ran a ballet school in her home. Jake had tagged along with Quil when he would drop Claire off for her lessons on some Tuesdays. When he was younger, along with Quil and Embry, he would help Alicia out with her tomato garden on Sundays with his sisters. She was like the grandmother he never had.

She was also one of the few people who knew the Pack's secret whom weren't actually in the pack or connected directly, thanks to Paul phasing in her kitchen when he had dropped off some pies for Emily and ended up getting frustrated with a phone conversation he was having. That one had been kind of hard to explain.

But the ballet instructor had taken it all in stride, and ended up being a very calming presence. She had an air about her that made the pack instantly relax. Even Paul with his short temper could never really get mad around Alicia (except maybe when he was on the phone). It was a large surprise that she wasn't married with children, but his father at a young age had told him never to bring it up. Jake supposed everyone knew that unspoken rule because barely anyone ever talked about her family, and when they did they asked about her niece.

Alicia would light up like a Christmas tree whenever someone brought up her niece, whose name was also Alicia. The girl lived in Los Angeles and hadn't been back on the rez since apparently she was six. Alicia had pictures of her all over the house along with Alicia's sister and her sister's husband, even a few of the pack and the elders.

To hear his father say her name with such panic made Jacob nervous.

"What happened?!" Jake asked, grabbing the keys to his father's truck, not even bothering to get out of his flannel pajama pants he hadn't thought to change out of (even though it was almost five o' clock in the afternoon).

"Sam thinks that a vampire attacked Alicia this morning."

Jacob felt himself shaking, trembling so hard he thought he would collapse. _Bloodsuckers_.

"D-Did they..." Jake swallowed the lump in his throat and looked pleadingly at his father. Billy shook his head.

"She's alive, but according to Sam in rough shape. Carlisle is tending to her now."

Jacob had to remind himself to breathe and think of happier thoughts like fixing the Rabbit to keep himself from possibly breaking a wall.

"T-the leech is her doctor!? How is _that_ right, or do the parasites enjoy irony?" Jake snapped, slamming the door shut after his father.

Billy shot him a glare. "Don't use that tone with me, Jacob Ephriam."

Jacob winced, his father only used his middle name when his patience was running out or Jake had done something practically unforgivable.

"Sorry." he muttered and Billy grunted, obviously still displeased with his son.

The car ride passed in silence, the air crackling with tension. Billy wrung his hands in the passenger seat, Jake braced the steering wheel with tight fists until he heard the metal underneath the leather groan in protest.

They arrived at Forks General in less than twenty minutes, and Jake wasted no time helping his father out of the truck and followed him then into the hospital.

They were met at the front desk by a bored looking receptionist looking to be in her late thirties, whom Jacob noted with a bit of spite seemed unconcerned with the urgency that they pressed her with.

She led them down endless halls, twisting and turning so fast Jake almost took more than one wrong turn.

"Room one-forty-one. Alicia Crowe. Please wait for the doctor in here." The receptionist said robotically before turning on her heel and disappearing down a hallway. Jake shook his head and quietly closed the door behind him, sitting down in a plastic chair while his father wheeled his chair up next to the bed.

Alicia looked so different and sick that if Jacob hadn't known that for sure it was her in the bed, hooked up to all sorts of different wires and tubes, he wouldn't have recognized her.

"Oh 'Licia..." Billy murmured, taking her hand in his and rubbing a gentle circling pattern on the back of her hand.

Jake wasn't sure when he dozed off, but when he jolted awake there were several other people in the room.

"-just got off the phone with her niece. Embry, you have a license, yes?" a voice which Jake recognized as Charlie Swan's.

"Yeah, just got it a few months ago, why?" Embry asked, curiously. Jake blinked sleep out of his eyes and yawned.

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

Jake turned his head to see Quil, Embry and Paul sitting in three other plastic chairs while his father talked to Charlie near Alicia's bed.

"How long was I out?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"About half an hour." Quil replied.

"We got here ten minutes after you. The pack just left." Paul lowered his voice so only Embry, Quil and Jake could hear him for the last sentence.

"Did the doc come in?" Jake asked, rolling his head so his neck cracked loudly, the pins and needles feeling slowly fading away.

"Yeah, but we didn't understand a lot of it. Only thing I really got out of it was that she...Alicia's not doing too well..." Quil murmured. Jake felt panic rising up in his throat.

Charlie turned away from Billy and looked to Embry.

"Would you mind driving up to Seattle to pick up Alicia's niece?" Charlie asked. Embry shifted in his seat, looking to Jake. His patrol was in a half an hour.

"I'll take your shift." he assured, though he wasn't all that happy about it. A whole hour of one of his pack mates invading his thoughts and criticizing him about Bella. Whoop-de-freaking-doo.

"I'll leave now. Take's a hell of a lot of time to get up there." Embry muttered the last sentence and stood from his chair.

"Wish me luck. Hey, Chief Swan, do you know what this girl looks like?"

Charlie nodded. "She looks a lot like her aunt; black hair, tan skin, but she has green eyes. Oh and her name's Alicia."

Embry nodded and exited the room.

Jake sighed, leaning back in his chair once more.

He kept thinking about how having this new girl on the rez would complicate things. Hopefully she wouldn't be staying very long.

Boy was he wrong.

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**It is done! Chapter two! **

**Review please, things get interesting in the next chapter ;)**


	3. Slipping

Chapter 3: Slipping

**_I am so so so sorry! I've completely left you guys hanging! School has been my top priority as of late, and quite honestly I have had little to no time to write for my own pleasure between my schoolwork and my horse._**

**_Here's the next chapter though! Hope this makes up for the wait!_**

**_To my lovely reviewers from the last chapter(s):_**

**Guest: Thank you so much haha.**

**Spyro Flavored Skittles: Thanks for your lovely review! Haha well here it is, I hope you find it interesting!**

**PadfootCc: Thank you! Hopefully you'll like the rest!**

**_So yeah, back to Ally! _**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Embry Call, Jacob Black, or the wolf pack, but I DO own Alicia and Ally._**

**_And away we go!_**

* * *

Ally felt like she could finally breathe a full breath of air when she stepped (more like stumbled) off of the airplane.

_Two hours_. She had spent more time _driving_ in one sitting than that. So why did that flight feel as if it had dragged on for days?

She shook her head and breathed deeply in through her nose, adjusting her dance bag's one strap over her shoulder and began speed-walking like a true born Los Angeles resident through the Seattle airport.

Ally wove her way through large crowds and reuniting couples and found her baggage claim carousel quickly enough. Only having to wait a moment, she grabbed her bag from the carousel and wheeled it out onto the curb outside of the exit, checking her watch every few minutes.

It was a little after ten thirty at night and there Ally stood, fidgeting and tapping her foot as she looked for whatever person Charlie had assigned to come and pick her up.

Thinking about it now, she probably should have just gotten a cab service instead. But setting aside the fact that was was a _broke eighteen-year-old, _ she probably couldn't have given the cab driver directions in the first place.

Just as she was contemplating calling Charlie Swan again, she heard someone call out her name, the person's voice echoing around the cement walls.

"Alicia Crowe?"

Ally spun around as someone tapped her on the shoulder, smacking the person in the face with her hair and her bag in the process.

"Sorry!" she apologized and gathered her hair over her shoulder. She froze, however, when she saw whom she had just smacked.

This dude was _huge_. He was at least six feet tall - towering over her even at her own height of five foot seven inches - and looked like he ate everything and the kitchen sink for breakfast. He had short, but still shaggy, black hair and chocolate colored eyes.

Shit. _Nice going, Ally, you just pissed off a huge-ass MMA fighter. Now you'll never see your Aunt._

But to her surprise, the giant _smiled_ at her and shook _his_ head.

"No, my fault for sneaking up on you._" _he looked her over once - which made her only _mildly_ uncomfortable - and smiled softly at her.

"You are _definitely_ Alicia's niece. I'm Embry Call, the one Chief Swan sent to pick you up. I live in La Push and know your aunt pretty well."

Ally's legs suddenly felt like Jell-o. _Thank god_.

"Thank you." she breathed and he flashed her another smile before taking her bag.

"Oh you don't have to-" But the giant - Embry - just shook his head.

"What kind of chauffeur would I be if I let a pretty girl like you carry her own bags?" Embry winked at her and Ally fought a blush.

_Is...is he flirting with me?_

Despite her disbelief, Ally found herself smiling back at him. He was friendly, something she really needed at the moment.

"Well, the car's this way." Embry gestured towards the waiting area for vehicles and Ally nodded before following him to an old beat-up black truck. He carefully put her suitcase in the truck bed before holding the passenger side door for her. That earned him another smile and a wink.

"What a gentlemen!" she laughed. Embry just shrugged before jogging to the other side of the car and getting in the driver's side.

The first few minutes of the drive were silent, Embry focusing on the road while Ally focused on the window.

It was Embry who decided to finally break the slightly awkward silence, his eyes darting away from the road for only a moment to look at her.

"So Alicia-"

"Ally."

"What?"

Ally turned to face Embry who glanced at again her before his eyes went back to the road.

"I prefer Ally to Alicia. Alicia is my aunt's name, I'm just plain old Ally." Ally shrugged.

"You're barely plain, Ally." Embry snorted and smiled at her from the corner of his eye. Ally laughed softly.

"Thanks, but I'm barely anything compared to most girls in Los Angeles."

Embry rolled his eyes. "The way your aunt talks about you, I'd beg to differ." he smiled over at her.

Ally, despite herself, felt blood rush to her cheeks and a nervous giggle leaving her lips. She stopped abruptly, however, and mentally smacked herself.

_Pull yourself together Ally! You've had plenty of guys flirt with you before! This one should be no different!_ She chastised herself and the corners of her mouth tugged down in a lopsided frown.

Stealing a glance at Embry once more, Ally had to admit, he was _very_ attractive. _But I've never had a guy like _**_this_**_ flirt with me before…_

If there was one thing Ally wasn't, it was vain. Sure, she liked how she looked and she wasn't afraid to show off a little bit once in awhile, but Ally didn't count the number of guys whom practically undressed her with their eyes. That being said, Ally did enjoy a little bit of male attention, and Embry's attention was _most certainly_ not unwelcome.

The dude looked like he bench pressed eighteen-wheelers for Pete's sake!

"Is there something on my face?"

Ally's eyes snapped up to meet Embry's and she realized the truck had come to a complete stop - a red light - and that she had been staring at Embry.

"What?" Ally squeaked, her face turning beet red. Somewhere in the back of Embry's mind, he realized how adorable she looked when she blushed.

"You've been staring at me for the past five minutes."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'." Embry smirked at her and chuckled a bit.

"Er...It's just...you're so…"

"Big?" Embry finished her sentence and Ally nodded sheepishly.

Embry just laughed. "Yeah, I know."

"How old are you anyway?" _And are you single?_ Ally silently added on, smiling at her own little joke.

"Seventeen."

Had Ally been driving, she probably would have driven off of the road when Embry replied.

"You're _seventeen?!_" Ally asked, astounded. Embry nodded as if it wasn't a big deal.

"B-but you look like you're twenty!" Ally gaped and Embry laughed a little louder.

"Yeah, we get that a lot. Don't worry, you aren't the first person to believe that I'm over twenty." Embry reassured and chuckled to himself.

Ally quirked her head at the word "we".

"Who's 'we'?" she asked. She noticed Embry hesitated a moment before answering her, his voice collected and losing a bit of it's playfulness.

"My friends and I. We're all kinda..._big_, growth spurts and all that." Embry waved a hand in the air as if to brush off her question. "You'll probably meet them all later when we see your aunt. Everybody down at the Rez loves her, especially our group of friends."

As if ice cold water had been poured over her head, Ally froze at the mention of her aunt.

_Flirting_. She had been _flirting _while her aunt was in critical condition and possibly dying. What the hell was wrong with her?!

"Have you seen her?! How is she?!" Ally suddenly demanded, turning fully to stare at Embry.

He furrowed his brow before realization dawned on his face and his playful attitude dropped completely.

"I saw your aunt just before I left to come and pick you up." he answered quietly.

Ally's heart was in her throat. Thousands of questions ran through her head but her mouth suddenly seemed dry and her vocal cords unable to work.

"I-is she...?" Ally trailed off, not sure where to finish the sentence. Alright? Comfortable? Awake?

"She was sleeping the last time I saw her but..." Embry bit his lip and stopped mid sentence, unsure if he should continue.

"Embry, please." Ally was almost in tears now, her panic rising with every second.

"She looked in rough shape but Dr. F-Cullen," Embry amended quickly, hoping Ally didn't catch his almost slip, "can tell you more once we get there, if you're still up to seeing your aunt."

"What do you mean?" Ally asked, and Embry gestured to the clock on the dash. 11:05 pm.

"It'll be almost one in the morning by the time we get there. Do you want me to drop you off at your Aunt's place or-"

"I'd like to see my Aunt, please." Ally answered almost immediately. Embry glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Alright." was all Embry left it at.

Ally sat in quiet thought for the rest of the drive. She stared blankly out of the passenger side window, watching as the lights of Seattle faded away into the distance and the forest around the highway grew more and more dense as the miles went on.

She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep when Embry was suddenly shaking her awake and the car had stopped.

"Ally, we're here."

She stared at him blankly as if he was speaking French. They were where?

But when Ally turned to look outside of the car, she saw the words _Forks General Hospital_ hanging above the entrance to a white concrete building.

"Thanks Embry." Ally whispered as he opened the door for her. The taller boy - she still couldn't believe he was _seventeen -_ nodded and suddenly reached for her hand. The action in it of itself shocked Ally, so much that she didn't even respond when he began walking with her in the direction of the hospital doors.

Room numbers seemed to blur together as the young nurse led the pair down the seemingly endless hallways. She twisted and turned and tried to keep up, and on numerous occasions Embry had to catch her from falling.

The nurse suddenly stopped short, causing Ally to ram straight into Embry's back.

"Ow..." she mumbled and Embry shot her an apologetic look before nodding in thanks to the nurse. The woman simply nodded back and turned on her heel, walking briskly down a hallway and disappearing around a corner.

The two teenagers stood in a tense silence as Ally stared at the shiny, metal numbers on the door of her aunt's hospital room.

"Are you ready?" Embry asked quietly, squeezing her hand. The black-haired girl swallowed the stone in her throat and exhaled shakily.

"I think so." she nodded, then turned to face the giant of a boy. "Thanks for picking me up and...ya know, staying with me." Ally murmured and Embry nodded, a sad smile on his face.

"I'll stick around a little longer."

Ally opened her mouth to tell him that he didn't need to do that, but she thought better of it. The way he talked about her Aunt Alicia made her think that he really cared for her too, just as she did.

"Okay." she whispered and gently pushed the door open.

When Ally stepped into the room, she felt fresh tears rush to her tear ducts. Her aunt looked frail and pale, her vitals beeping on the machine next to her bed. An IV port was stuck in her arm and her hair was in disarray around her pillow.

"Oh Auntie..." Ally choked on her sobs and practically fell into the chair next to her Aunt's bed. Clutching Alicia's hand, Ally smoothed a few stray hairs from Alicia's brow away from her eyes.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here."

Tears now freely tracked down Ally's face, and she felt as if her world was crumbling around her. How much more death and sorrow did the world have to throw at her until she just laid down and died herself?

Staring at her Aunt's face, a face so similar to her mother's, Ally was so painfully reminded of the night her parents were taken away - how her mother had kissed her goodbye when dropping her off at her recital practice, telling her she would be there to pick her up with her father at nine, as promised.

Her parents had never showed.

Shaking her head, Ally sniffed back tears and swiped at her eyes.

Feeling a hot hand on her shoulder, Ally turned to look at Embry, who was smiling sadly down at her.

"I'm gonna go get some coffee, do you want any?"

Ally shook her head and Embry left quietly. She felt somehow a bit...colder, emptier almost without him in the room. It was light someone had turned off all of the heat. She missed Embry. She liked Embry, he was nice.

He had only been gone a minute when Ally heard the door opening again. Turning in her seat, she came face to face with possibly the most gorgeous man she had ever met.

He was tall, very tall, and even under his doctor's coat she could see he was very much in good shape. He was white as snow with pale blonde hair and his eyes seemed to flicker gold in the harsh lights of the hospital room.

"Good evening, Miss Crowe. My name is Dr. Cullen."

* * *

**THANK FUDGE THAT'S DONE!**

**Yes, so Ally's kinda getting close with Embry. I think you all can see where this is going...right?**

**R&R!**


	4. Welcoming Committee

Chapter 4: Welcoming Committee

**Hey All!**

**Here's chapter four for you guys. I hope everyone liked the last chapter, and I tried very hard to get this one out a lot faster, but my plot bunnies keep running away from me *lunges after plot bunnies in vain***

**To my loverly reviewers from last chapter:**

**_RedRoses5: Haha I guess I set it up that way, but it wasn't what I was originally planning. Ally just feels safer with Embry because he's kind to her. I swear they will just become REALLY close friends. It will make sense in the next maybe two chapters._**

**_Chelsea: Thanks!_**

**_ChocolateKryptonite: Yeah, I enjoy torturing my OCs lolz. Haha looking back I guess I did set that up, but that's not where I plan on going with it, I swear lol. Too many love triangles in Twilight, there is no need for another one._**

**_And thank you, I've worked for a very long time to be able to express through my writing and make my OCs as little like Mary Sues as possible!_**

**Enjoy chapter 4!**

* * *

Ally blinked, almost dumbly. _This_ was Dr. Cullen? This gorgeous, hunk of a man was her aunt's _doctor_. She was suddenly (and a bit inappropriately for the situation) feeling a bit jealous of her aunt.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Ally rose from her seat next to her aunt's bedside and reached out to shake Dr. Cullen's hand.

Ally almost winced when shaking the doctor's hands; they were colder than ice and after being used to contact with the hot skinned Embry, they felt even colder.

Pulling back in what she hopped wasn't too much of a hasty gesture, Ally crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me at such a late hour, Dr. Cullen." Ally thanked Dr. Cullen, glancing at the time on her phone and wincing outwardly this time. _1:03 am_. Embry hadn't been kidding when he said one in the morning.

Dr. Cullen shook his head. He smiled a gorgeous smile back at her and Ally felt the blood rush to her cheeks. _Not the time, hormones!_ She reprimanded herself silently.

"That's quite alright, Ms. Crowe. But please, call me Carlisle." he nodded his head politely. Ally smiled back at him.

"Alright, Carlisle." Ally confirmed. The doctor smiled, but Ally could see a bit of what she thought was sadness in his eyes.

"And of the matter of the time; I work late hours; the 'graveyard shift' if you will. Your aunt is one of my more urgent patients at the moment and I was more than eager to speak with you, really."

This made Ally frown. Just how bad _was_ her aunt's condition?

Dr. Cullen gestured for her to sit before doing so himself, opening a manilla folder and taking out a few different sheets of paper.

"Your aunt suffered a Subdural hematoma, a very traumatic brain injury that usual results after a serious head injury. She came in after being involved in a car accident with a substantial amount of internal bleeding." Dr. Cullen's voice was quiet and collected, a wall of stability as Ally began shaking in her seat.

He looked up from his report briefly, his amber eyes searching Ally's face.

The young woman swallowed her dry throat and nodded for him to continue, closing her eyes as she processed the information.

"Her condition is still critical, and she remains in a comatose state," Carlisle paused, and Ally could hear his hesitation.

"Spit it out Doc. Just give it to me straight."

"There is a fair chance that her comatose state is permanent if she doesn't come to in the next forty-eight hours."

Ally felt her head begin to spin. Somewhere in a far corner of her mind she realized she should have prepared herself for the worst, but the truth of the matter still hit her like a freight-train.

"Ms. Crowe?" she felt Carlisle's freezing hand touch her knee and she jerked back involuntarily, her sight blinded by her tears.

"S-so she may never wake up? That's it? Game over, just like that?" Ally choked out. This couldn't be happening. Nope, not happening. She was having a nightmare, a sick, twisted, sadistic nightmare.

Carlisle sighed. "As I said, it's a fair chance. But your Aunt is strong, Ms. Crowe." Carlisle patted her on the knee in a comforting gesture. All Ally felt was ice.

After a minute of waiting for a response, Carlisle patted Ally's knee once more and rose from his seat.

"If you would prefer it, Ms. Crowe, I can leave you to be alone with your aunt."

Ally nodded, her eyes transfixed on the heart monitor next to her Aunt's bed.

"That would be...nice." Ally croaked, still pushing back tears.

Carlisle left with only a sad but kind smile and a nod.

As soon as the door had closed and Ally heard Carlisle's footsteps disappear down the hallway, she burst into tears and practically flung herself at her Aunt's bed.

Kneeling next to the bed, her head resting on the sheets of the bed and her hands clutching the bed-rail, Ally fell apart.

She wept all the tears she had stored from the minute she received the phone call from Chief Swan. Her sorrows painted onto the crisp white sheets of the hospital bed as her Aunt's heart monitor beeped steadily and quietly away in the corner.

"Auntie, please don't leave me." Ally sobbed, her pleading with her aunt who she knew could not hear her. Still Ally tried, hoping, _praying_ for her Aunt to stir, for her smile to light her face and her chocolate eyes to open, swirling with mischief and laughter.

_I'm all alone_. She realized and her sobs stopped abruptly.

"I'm alone." she whispered to herself. Somehow the words left a bitter tang on her tongue.

"I'm _alone_." Ally whimpered again, a bit louder this time. Suddenly Ally felt like a small child again. She wanted to be hugged, comforted and coddled. Told that _everything would be okay in the morning_ and run off to bed without a care in the world. Ally didn't want to have to face the world on her own. She didn't want to have to wake up every morning only to remember she was alone.

For what felt like centuries, Ally knelt by her Aunt's bedside in quiet thought.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door opened and Embry walked through. He opened his mouth to speak but his voice died in his throat when he registered Ally's puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. Her lower lip quivered and the wolf felt his heart break for the girl.

"Hey," he murmured and strode over to her, helping her up and off of the floor. She swiped furiously at her eyes, embarrassed at being caught falling apart.

"Sorry." she mumbled and Embry gave her an incredulous look.

"Are you seriously _apologizing_ for _crying_?" he asked.

Ally shrugged.

"You Los Angeles people have a real backwards way of thinking." Embry muttered and Ally couldn't help but crack a smile.

A large yawned parted her lips and she covered her mouth with her hand, realizing just how tired she really was.

"Embry? What-" another yawn, "time is it?" she asked.

Embry glanced at his watch.

"Two o' clock in the morning." he stated and Ally felt all of her exhaustion crash down on top of her. She had been awake for nearly an entire day straight, as the day before she had gotten about three hours of sleep, and Ally suddenly felt like she could sleep for a week.

"I'll drive you to Alicia's place. She never locks her doors so you should be okay for getting in." Embry stated.

Had Ally been wide awake, she would have fought him on driving her _again_ when she wasn't even paying him, but Sleepy Ally was much more inclined to letting him take her home.

"Thank you." Ally breathed. Embry promised it was nothing and with one last parting look at her Aunt, Ally let Embry lead her out of the hospital.

* * *

**_They holler at me but it's you_**

**_You, this ain't high school_**

**_Me, and my crew-_**

Ally groaned and rolled over in bed. Damn Jason for messing up her ringtones and buying that annoyingly-catchy Nicki Minaj song...

She blindly searched for her phone on her bedside table with her eyes closed and after a few minutes of pawing around she finally found the cool metal of her cell.

Cracking one eye open she tapped the _Accept Call_ icon and pressed the phone against her ear.

"Hello?" she mumbled into the phone, only to sit bolt up in bed, her phone extended an arm's lengths away from her ear, which was now ringing.

"_Good morning, Sunshine!" _Jason's voice screamed from her phone. Ally groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

"What the hell, Jay. Its too early for that volume." Ally grumbled and tossed the covers off of her, swinging her legs around over the side of the bed.

"_Hey, you never called me yesterday, I deserve a little payback." _Ally didn't miss the bit of annoyance that was buried in Jason's voice. She immediately felt guilty for blowing him off.

"I'm sorry, I just was so absorbed in Auntie I guess I kinda forgot to call..." Ally apologized.

"Is she okay?" Jason's voice suddenly held no sarcasm and only held concern.

"Oh, uh, Doc said its gonna take some time, ya know, for her to heal." Ally's voice cracked pitifully and she swiped at her eyes.

"Ally..." Jason breathed through the phone. The black-haired girl only sniffed in response.

"I'm sorry for waking you up, you probably had a late night last night. Go back to bed, Ally."

Before Ally could reply, she heard a knocking at the front door of the house. Eyes flickering to the doorway, she sighed dejectedly. She was _so_ not a morning person.

"Jay, I gotta go. I promise I'll call you later." Ally spoke into the phone while getting up from the bed and walking in the direction of the doorway.

"Sure. Miss you, Ally."

"Miss ya more, you moron." she laughed before ending the call and unlocking the front door.

Embry stood on her aunt's doorstep, smiling, with a paper baggie in one hand a white coffee cup in the other that's smell promised sweet, sweet caffeine.

"Mornin' Green Eyes." Embry grinned - good lord it should be illegal to be that happy before at least noon - and nodded to her pants.

"Nice pajamas." he smirked and Ally looked down to see what she had chosen as her attire the night before. A plain gray t-shirt and purple pajama pants with Tinkerbell patterned on them.

"Thanks," she said flatly, then gestured to his full hands, "those better be for me, or else I might have to kick you off of my property." she teased with a weary smile. Embry's good mood was apparently contagious.

Said giant laughed lightly and nodded, extending his hands in offering.

"I bring coffee and a cream-cheese bagel from Port Angeles as a peace offering. Can I come in?" he asked and Ally nodded, grabbing the sustenance and stepping aside so he could step in.

Ally sipped the warm coffee and smiled. Ally had always been a coffee girl; iced coffee, coffee ice cream, coffee cakes, anything that had coffee even in the _name_ she loved.

Walking in after Embry to sit in her Aunt's cozy kitchen, she took a seat on a high stool at the island next to Embry, who was gazing fondly out of the sunlit windows out onto the vegetable garden her aunt had planted.

The dancer studied his face for a moment, analyzing the emotions that were painted out over the canvas that was his skin.

"You really do care for my aunt, don't you?"

The question seemed to catch Embry off guard, and he shot her a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?"

Ally shrugged, fiddling with her doggie bag, taking a moment to collect her words and thoughts.

"Well, if you didn't really care for my aunt like you said you do, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't have driven me from Seattle to the hospital last night then once again go out of your way to drive me back to my Aunt's place. Strangers don't just _do_ that." Ally hoped she was making sense; all of her thoughts felt like mush and the sudden introduction of caffeine and food wasn't really helping.

"We aren't _strangers_," Embry almost looked offended. "You're Ally and I'm Embry, we know each other." Embry crossed his arms over his chest and Ally had to bite her lip to keep the smile off of her face. He was just too adorable.

"Okay, so we _know_ each other, but that doesn't mean that you're like, my best friend or anything." When a look of hurt crossed over Embry's face, Ally scrambled to amend to statement.

"I mean I just want to get to know you so that you didn't just do all of that stuff for a complete stranger!"

Embry's expression suddenly lightened and he smiled at her.

"Okay, so let's go to know one another! Personally, all that Alicia's told us about you makes us practically best friends already."

Ally smiled, but her brow furrowed a bit. There was that word _us_ again. So far, she hadn't seen any of Embry's "friends", but then again she had only been in La Push for barely a full day. She just hoped that who ever the "us" was, Embry wasn't making them up in his head. She _really _didn't want her new friend to be delusional.

"Okay," Embry suddenly declared and Ally jumped, almost spilling her coffee.

"How about this, we both tell each other two facts about ourselves every day your here. Something simple and then something exciting. Then we won't be strangers."

Ally felt a slow smile creep onto her face. Embry was different, that was for sure. But different was...refreshing. New, exciting.

"Okay. Deal."

The two teenagers sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments.

"So are you gonna share that bagel?"

Ally laughed.

* * *

An hour later saw the new friends driving in Embry's truck in the direction of Fork General Hospital.

Ally noticed as soon as they passed into Forks, Embry's usually relaxed posture went rigid, and his jaw tightened when they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

He led her into the now bustling hospital and past the front desk, down the twisting and turning hallways and finally to her aunt's door.

Taking a large breath and exhaling slowly, Ally reached out and opened the door to the hospital room.

Stepping into the starch white room, Ally quickly noticed her Aunt was not alone.

A man with long black hair and russet skin sat in a wheelchair next to her Aunt's bedside, holding her hand while two giants of men sat in tiny plastic chairs on the other side of the room, talking in hushed voices.

"Um, hello?" Ally spoke, breaking the almost silence that encased the room.

All three heads turned to stare at the dancer, and she felt blood rush to her cheeks.

"Uh...er, who are you?" she sputtered, shifting uncomfortably.

The older man in the wheelchair smiled at her and wheeled himself over to shake her hand.

"Hello there. My name is Billy Black, I'm a friend of 'Licia's. You must be Alicia." Billy extended his hand and Ally shook it.

"Hello Billy, my aunt's mentioned you a few times over the phone, it's a pleasure to meet you, but I wish it could have been under different circumstances. Please call me Ally." Ally tried to smile, but she cast a nervous glance over at the two men sitting in the plastic chairs. They stared at her with blank expressions, and frankly it was making her nervous.

Billy followed her gaze and shot the two men a look. They immediately dropped their stoic masks and smiled at her.

"The one on the left is Quil and the one on the right is Jared." a voice behind her suddenly chimed in, causing Ally to jump nearly a foot in the air.

"Jesus Christ Embry! Don't _do_ that!" Ally exclaimed while Embry just chuckled.

"Hey, Embry," the one on the left - Quil - greeted. Embry and he clapped each other on the shoulder and Jared simply nodded to the two.

"Since Embry's here, I think I should go and uh, finish up shift." Jared directed the statement at Billy. He nodded and gestured to the door.

"See ya later, Jared! Say hi to Kim for me!" Quil said in a teasing voice. Jared left without a word.

Quil then turned to Ally. A large grin was on his face, one similar to the one that Embry wore, but it was slightly dimmed by the sadness brewing in his eyes that he was obviously trying to suppress.

"Hi, I'm Quil, a friend of Embry's. I, uh, know your aunt." Quil reached out his hand and Ally shook it, noting how his skin was unusually warm like Embry's.

"Its nice to meet you Quil. I'm Ally. Thanks for coming." Ally murmured. Quil nodded and sat back down with Embry to his right. The boys began talking quietly and Ally made her way over to her Aunt.

She sat in silence for a while, simply holding her Aunt's hand and willing with all of her strength for her Aunt to awaken from her comatose state.

"You look so much like your mother, you know."

Ally's head snapped up to see Billy studying her, a small smile playing on his face.

"You knew my mother?"

Billy nodded. "I did. She was a lovely woman. She, 'Licia and I were very good friends during our school days. Thalia and my late wife, Sarah, got on beautifully." Billy reminisced.

Ally felt tears begin to gather behind her eyes. She had a hard time talking about her parents without crying, but she tried to hold back her tears just this once.

Billy took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. Ally was thankful for the comfort.

For the rest of the afternoon, Ally and Billy talked pleasantly. Ally learned that he had a son about her age named Jacob, who worked in a garage and also for Sam Uley, a man on the reservation. Billy learned about Ally's many jobs and her dream to one day own her own studio.

Time passed by rapidly, and before Ally knew it, it was time for her to return home. She bid Billy goodbye, pulling out her phone to text Embry and ask for a ride home when she bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" she apologized as her phone dropped and skidded across the linoleum floor. She cursed softly under her breath and darted after it, not giving the person a second glance over her shoulder.

* * *

Jacob Black stared back after the woman, one eyebrow raised in question.

She had emerged out of Alicia's room and ran almost smack into him, then ran off he could utter an apology.

He had to admit, it was his fault. He had been so engrossed with thoughts torn between Bella and Alicia's condition that he had't been looking where he was going and ended up bumping into someone.

Shaking his head, he couldn't help but inhale the scent the woman had left on contact with his t-shirt. It was a wonderful aroma of peppermint, ocean water and what he recognized as the lemon scented stuff Sue used to clean her floor.

_Weird_. he thought to himself.

But the thought quickly left his mind as he stepped into Alicia's room to check up on his injured family friend and collect his father.

He didn't think about Bella for the rest of the day.

* * *

**Personally, I think this chapter is complete crap, but it gears everything up for the next few chapters.**

**So yes, Jake did meet his imprint! (But he has no idea its even her).**

**I might go back and edit this later, I hate it that much, but you guys deserve another chapter.**

**Review please!**


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